Asked for his thoughts on Saturday's game, the Riverhead Blue Waves coach replied, "We dropped a lot of balls."
Typical Shay.
Judging by his remarks, you would hardly suspect that the Blue Waves had just dusted the Copiague Eagles by 45-0, bringing their midseason record in Suffolk County Division II to a sparkling 4-0. First-place Riverhead and the West Islip Lions (4-0) are the only undefeated teams in the division.
So, is Shay happy?
"Have you ever known me to be happy?" he retorted. "The bottom line is we have to get better. If we rest on our laurels, then we've already lost."
Typical Shay.
Shay's influence can be heard in the voices of his players, too.
"I like the way we're playing, but there's always room for improvement, always," said Tyler Gilliam, who plays running back and outside linebacker.
Jon La Gue, an offensive tackle/defensive tackle, said: "We're 0 and 0 still. That's the mentality that you have to have. If you don't have that mentality, you start to get complacent. Once you get complacent, it takes a split second to lose."
That four-letter "L" word is a dirty word to the Blue Waves, whose No. 1 seeding carries with it the burden of expectations. But to put preseason seedings into perspective, all the Blue Waves have to do is look at the Eagles. Although the Eagles are the No. 3 seed, they are 0-4. They have a slew of injuries as well as a brutal schedule to thank for that. "Stuff happens," said Blue Waves guard/defensive lineman Piotr Kurzyna.
A lot of stuff happened in Saturday's game, almost all of it good for the Blue Waves and bad for the Eagles.
Once again, Miguel Maysonet had a super day for the Riverheaders, scoring four touchdowns. His first three came on runs of 33, 64 and 65 yards, and the fourth was a 42-yard interception return. That was the third of four Copiague turnovers for the day. Maysonet, who has nine rushing touchdowns this season, picked up 225 yards on 13 carries, all of which came in the first half.
"When you have Miguel, you're always in the game," Shay said. "He's special."
A nine-yard touchdown run by Greg Meyer and a 29-yard touchdown pass from Tim Velys to Tim Fitzgerald helped make it 32-0 by halftime.
That lead allowed the Blue Waves to substitute heavily in the second half, when Steve Kimmelman took over for Velys at quarterback and others got a chance to play, too. Backups, who normally don't get to play much, got their moment in the sun.
"They practice hard and make us better on scout [teams] and everything," Gilliam said. "So, we did our job, and they got a chance to come out and shine, and they did, too."
Among those backup players was Tylete Hardin, a junior who scored his first career touchdown on a three-yard run with 47.8 seconds left in the game. Instead of taking an extra point afterward, Kimmelman took a knee.
Just to show what type of a day it was, after Maysonet's fourth score, Travis Walker's extra-point kick hit the crossbar and then flipped over for the point, making it 39-0 at 2 minutes 8 seconds of the third quarter.
The Riverhead offense rolled up 337 yards in total offense, and its defense posted its first shutout of the year, holding the Eagles to only two first downs (both in the first half), 35 yards in total offense, and a miserly 1-for-13 conversion rate on third-down plays.
In their defense, the Eagles were missing six starters to injuries. "Three broken legs, a shoulder, a hand, and a torn MCL," Eagles Coach Bruce Muro said. "It is what it is. Like I said, no excuses. We're just not showing up this year."
The victory enabled the Blue Waves to retain possession of the Blue-White Cup, which they won for the third straight year. Riverhead (blue) and Copiague (white) have played each other for the cup for four years.
For a midseason report card, Shay said he would give his team a grade of a B or B+.
"We have to keep looking ahead," he said. "We have some tough games coming up. We think we have something special, but we want our folks to get better."
Typical Shay.